Titulo Estágio
Blockchain-Based Enterprise Resource Planning
Áreas de especialidade
Sistemas de Informação
Local do Estágio
Coimbra
Enquadramento
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is one of the most famous enterprise systems in the world. The ERP market includes international companies like SAP, Microsoft, or Oracle. Moreover, its size is expected to reach over $86 billion by 2027. Therefore, competition is increasing, and ERP providers are incorporating new technologies in their offer, improving collaboration, analytics, and add-ons capabilities to produce value (Ruivo et al., 2020). In addition, the traditional ERP modules of human resource management, accounting, purchasing, or sales, are moving to the cloud and out of the companies’ borders, requiring real-time access to information by different organizational stakeholders. For example, governments, partners, suppliers, or auditors.
More recently, Blockchain has entered the ERP world (Søgaard, 2021) and is particularly interesting “in areas that have historically relied on third parties to establish a certain amount of trust” (Nofer et al., 2017). The adoption of Blockchain to support cryptocurrencies is well-known. However, Blockchain did not yet receive sufficient attention in its adoption to one of the essential business data sources: ERPs. Aiming to address this problem and ensuring leadership in the Portuguese ERP market, this master thesis will be made in cooperation with an ERP provider in the center of Portugal, counting with more than 5500 customers.
References
Nofer, M., Gomber, P., Hinz, O., & Schiereck, D. (2017). Blockchain. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 59(3), 183-187.
Gaikwad, V., & Rake, R. (2021). Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Market”. Available online at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/ERP-market [last accessed 24/05/2021]
Ruivo, P., Johansson, B., Sarker, S., & Oliveira, T. (2020). The relationship between ERP capabilities, use, and value. Computers in Industry, 117, 103209.
Søgaard, J. S. (2021). A blockchain-enabled platform for VAT settlement. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 40, 100502.
Objetivo
The main objectives of this thesis are:
1) Evaluate the blockchain readiness of an international ERP system available in the market;
2) Identify use cases for blockchain adoption in ERP;
3)Implement a blockchain pilot project in a specific ERP module.
Objectives 1 and 2 will focus on the case company participating in this work (CentralGest; http://www.centralgest.com). They aim to identify how the ERP can use Blockchain and create a plan for future developments. The third objective includes blockchain-based development (a small-scale pilot project) using a part of the CentralGest ERP database.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
The main phases for the first semester are presented as follows (may overlap):
1) Research the state-of-the-art: ERP and Blockchain
Start: September 2021
Duration: 2 months
2) Contacts with the case organization and analysis of their ERP product
Start: October 2021
Duration: 2 months
3) Initial draft of a readiness assessment tool for Blockchain adoption in ERP and a preliminary list of use cases (key ERP features supported by Blockchain).
Start: November 2021
Duration: 1 month
Results of the 1st semester:
• Literature review about ERP and Blockchain
• Pilot project design
• Intermediate report
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
The main phases for the second semester are presented as follows:
4) Creation of a Blockchain adoption plan for CentralGest.
Start: January 2022
Duration: 4 months
5) Development and tests of the Blockchain pilot project in the selected ERP module.
Start: January 2022
Duration: 4 months
6) Writing of the thesis
Start: May 2022
Duration: 2 months
Results of the 2nd semester:
• Final report
• Scientific paper: A case study of Blockchain adoption in ERP systems.
Condições
The student will be integrated in the Information Systems Group (ISG) of CISUC, Department of Informatics Engineering, University of Coimbra. A workplace and the required resources will be provided.
Observações
The student will be engaged with the activities of ISG in a topic with significant relevance for the IT market worldwide. Therefore, this work offers an opportunity to strengthen the skills of IT consultancy and ERP implementation. In addition, the student will have a chance to learn IS development strategies in a top ERP employer in the region.
Orientador
João Barata; Paulo Rupino da Cunha
barata@dei.uc.pt 📩